Ravens shut out at last night's ESPYs

Jeff Zrebiec, The Baltimore Sun

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs doesn't miss an opportunity to express his admiration and love for LeBron James and the Miami Heat. However, he probably wasn't a huge fan of the back-to-back NBA champions last night.

That's because the Heat, and James specifically, were a big reason why the Ravens were shut out at the ESPY Awards, ESPN's annual sports awards show.

The Heat were voted by fans as the "best team," beating out the Ravens, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Blackhawks, U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team, the Alabama football team and the Oklahoma softball team.

James then took home the honors for "best championship performance," a category that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was nominated for, thanks to his 22-of-33, 287-yard and three-touchdown effort in a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.

Originally included in the bracket for the voting for "best play," running back Ray Rice's catch-and-run on 4th-and-29 against the San Diego Chargers was not chosen among the final nominees.

Nevertheless, the Ravens in attendance last night at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles appeared to be enjoying themselves. Ray Lewis and Flacco both had seats in the front row, while Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones, Terrell Suggs and Dennis Pitta were among the players sitting right behind them.

And the night wasn't a total loss, as Rodgers Forge native and devout Ravens fan - Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps - cited Lewis' influence on him while he accepted the award for "best record-breaking performance."

"Ray was somebody who really helped me find the fire inside of me to come back and finish [my] career the way I wanted to," Phelps said to Lewis.